Analyzing 20 Transistor Radios Vintage AM Pocket Radio

[@shango066]

Comment on which one you would like to see working and I will do a separate repair video on it.

[@F40PH-2CAT]

The RCA made in the USA

[@samsokolowski0140]

The Sony one because I have the same one

[@KI6KGN]

The RCA radio, Fiesta radio, and the Sony radio!

[@Leadfoot_Ed]

The North American clock radio

[@kareno8634]

Knowing nothing of 'worth the try' - North American, cause of switches - 'high\low' & 'man\auto'. for _what & why_

[@opus1952]

What a contrast! Yesterday you get a glowing shout out from electronics royalty Mr Carlson with pristine workshop / lab👍 and you out in a dusty mountain dropping bits of the radios in the dirt and generally needing haz-mat protection from that chemical concoction you made but still getting results and old dead dogs working again. Thank you shango, your videos are always great and mind boggling as to how you work your magic. 😎👍

[@randyr.parker2698]

Hey Shango, Mr Carlson's Lab gave you a nice shout out yesterday, thought you'd like to know.

[@shango066]

Awesome oh, I should have time to catch up on videos today

[@ottodydaktyk]

My votes are: the Wendell West, the one with the jewel on the front, the RCA. I'm almost done watching every video you've made regarding electronics, but I didn't read many of the comments. I didn't know that you were on Patreon, you might want to mention that in your videos OR put it alongside of your banner on your videos. Yes, I signed up. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and repairing items that I did NOT think you'd be able to fix. Congrats on your shout out from Mr. Carlson! Kudos to you! (I know you didn't ask, but some of my favorites are: You, David Tipton, RadioTVPhonoNut, XrayTonyB and others that I've probably forgotten. ) I hope that someone has archived these videos because 50 years from now, it will probably be a very small community of people working on vintage electronics, sadly. One last thing... was the beautiful site in your video in the Sierra Nevadas?

[@seanobrien7169]

Check out Uncle Doug. Guitar amps mostly, but the channel is very worth watching even if it aint your thing.

[@ottodydaktyk]

@@seanobrien7169 thank you, I'll check it out!

[@ixionn563]

I think my favorites tend to rotate between Shango, RadioTVPhonoNut, and Mr Carlson's Lab. I enjoy both Shango's more blunt sketchy (also entertaining) sort of approach and Mr Carlson's more detailed careful approach, and both have been very educational if you want to learn this stuff. I think RadioTVPhonoNut would fall somewhere in between sketchy and careful. And don't take that harshly, they all are very smart and experienced at what they do. Will also mention others like Jordan Pier, Uncle Doug, and Radio Rescue. Not because they're not as good, but simply because I don't watch their content nearly as much.

[@marcosvaldez9801]

@@ixionn563 Ignacio Baquedano it's good . spanish version

[@richardweinberger2756]

Because of Shango I bought a German tube radio, a really large Grundig , and actually took it apart and recapped it and fixed a few things and it works great. I then looked around for other videos and came across M. Caldeira , and his restoration videos are quite spectacular in their thoroughness and explanation of each and every part in those radios and why they were put there !! If you're into radios I really recommend adding him to your subscriptions. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mmq5XnR5aJili8U

[@NickG123]

The day after “Mr. Carlsons Lab” mentions you on a transistor radio repair, you post 20! Haven’t watched the whole thing yet, but I’m sure the video will be fun as always.

[@Robbyinsaintpete]

I noticed how Mr. Carlson was both complementary, and also just a wee bit dismissive. Great shout-out nonetheless! Same thought: is it bizarre that the channels we follow seem to follow each other?

[@DeadKoby]

Paul Carlson is such a perfectionist, I find him to be a bit annoying at times. That's just me. Shango is the opposite.....just get it working satisfactory and call it good.

[@seanobrien7169]

@@Robbyinsaintpete I didn't find him to be dismissive at all, and notice he used shango's replacement cap method just touched on the leads to test the thing. Carlson just has that personality that seems condescending, but he is a good guy. He is just trying to keep it accessible to us average folk.

[@Robbyinsaintpete]

@@seanobrien7169 he used terms like "little things" to describe Shango's video..

[@billybassman21]

​ @DeadKoby I like Shango better, I feel like I'm in his backyard with him working on this stuff. Honestly I'm sick of youtube pushing Canadian channels and shadow banning American ones, so when I hear a Canadian or European accent I turn off right away.

[@christopherhulse8385]

That oldies station is kicking! to go from Rick Astley to Toto, it doesn't get much better than that!

[@SatomiForward]

"think of the bong you could make out of that." Fuckin wheezing laughing hard at that one. Zenith radio.

[@billstuart8481]

Or a moonshine still.

[@TurboTel68]

Thanks for taking us out with you, a really interesting selection of radios too, looking forward to seeing some resurrections on these gems. The scenery looks like a Bob Ross painting, I could imagine him saying ‘and over here lives a big old mountain’

[@TrevorsBench]

Nice tranquil spot for repairs. No bambulance & airplanes to break your concentration

[@iainoggy]

I proper pissed my sides at the bong reference

[@randyr.parker2698]

Same! LOL!

[@tony--james]

Not sure which one I'd pick, but maybe the Orange Federal 1.5 volt, the "Minimal Performer" looks interesting to see what it could do (If anything lol)

[@bluepen61]

The batteries cleaned up very nicely!!! Love your videos and humor! :) Thank you for sharing!

[@1959Berre]

"Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down..." How appropriate.

[@iworkout6912]

I have a Elgin radio that my dad had back in the mid 60's that still works just fine, has a Genuine Top Grain Cowhide case, that must of kept it working just fine. I use it in remembered of my dad (RIP) and his life as we were a dairy farmer family, and the radio played in the barn..9 volt, 10 transistors, made in Japan. Heavy for such a small radio.

[@andymouse]

And we got "Rick rolled" right at the end.

[@F40PH-2CAT]

I've seen these mountains on several episodes of Star Trek DS9 and Voyager.

[@jeffreyhickman3871]

I bought myself one ☝️ of those Sanyo’s, and my brother one ☝️back in 1983. This video takes me back in time. I was visiting my mom in Eureka, Alaska.

[@TapesNstuffS]

This is somehow the exact kind of video I was wishing for. Watching this channel got me into small transistor portables though I discovered the channel with vintage tv stuff. Also yes to RCA but the Sony, Sanyo, and tiny Federal would be interesting choices too.

[@EsotericArctos]

That Everyready 9V battery you missed likely wont react in Vinegar. It looks like the old Zinc Carbon battery which has an acidic electrolyte from memory. Was great to see all this fun stuff. I think that RCA is the one I would like to see recovered if possible :)

[@MutethatBozo]

I wouldn't mind if you did several videos on most all of 'em, but the clock radio, and the jeweled Sanyo would likely be the ones I'd tackle first. Thanks again for the videos, and peace :)

[@1959Berre]

The sound of the water is soothing my tinnitus. Love it.

[@1959Berre]

@@daleburrell6273 It surely is. And I can tell you tinnitus after sudden deafness is not a joke. It has driven me to the edge of suicide.

[@dougbrowning82]

We had Candle in Canada for years. It was a brand of Jutan International (JIL), now Citizen Electronics, a division of Circus World Displays, of Niagara Falls, ON. They also own Fluance, Electrohome, First Alert, and a dozen other brands. The Candle stuff was along the lines of Lloyd's, Sound Design, or Longines Symphonette.

[@Roundymooney]

"Here's a vintage transistor radio. It has TEN transistors. Nine of which are diodes."

[@LakeNipissing]

Wendell-West and Sanyo with the 'jewel' on the nameplates were my favs here! Fortunately there is still ONE station to check these radios out where you are. It was a nice surprise to hear Paul Carlson of 'Mr. Carlson's Lab' recommend your channel ! You guys both do awesome work, and thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@raymondleggs5508]

I love the designs of old radios

[@themac6356]

I quite like the look of the “North American” clock radio, mostly because of how bizarre it is.

[@BobWiersema]

I had something similar back in the early eighties when I was a young man and traveled extensively throughout the USA as part of my job. It's basically a travel alarm clock with a radio. You could buy those at major airports back in the day. Never had one with a mechanical clock. I have never seen one with a mechanical clock mechanism but I believe they were manufactured somewhere around 1945. Plus or minus a few years. I collect old radios and clocks. I need to find one of these. Before you ask. My oldest clock is a Elgin from 1925. It was a wedding gift to my Grandmother. I restored it 40 years ago. Currently on loan to my sister keeping (almost perfect time) above her fireplace. ps. I allow that because she doesn't use the fireplace.

[@cipherthedemonlord8057]

Same I want one now but only if it is an actual mechanical clock and not something like an old car had.

[@acefeeley9007]

Shango066, Mr. Carlson and Peter at TRX are my favorite channels. All very different from each other, but all are amazing.

[@DankNoodles420]

Check out Mister Radio

[@NurdRage777]

19:30 A radium dial clock, classic. Radioactivity in antiques. During the production of radium dials, many workers who painted clock or instrument dials with radium developed cancer.

[@tony--james]

Yeah, I read about the Radium Girls awhile back, scary stuff, "After being told that the paint was harmless, the women in each facility ingested deadly amounts of radium after being instructed to "point" their brushes on their lips in order to give them a fine tip"

[@seanobrien7169]

@@tony--james Mrpete222 otherwise known as Tubalcain mentions them frequently and did a pretty good video on them.

[@NurdRage777]

@@tony--james Yep. Crazy old times. Well I think it's not that harmful unless you mess with the dail and scratch the paint off and ingest or breath the dust in somehow. The radiation isn't that bad. I remember my grandmother used to have such clock too.

[@johnnytacokleinschmidt515]

Portable transistor radio repair in the Mountain Wilderness! Great and relaxing! I wonder what your nighttime DX'ing could be like? Run a 300' random. In the air or along the ground....

[@tomhoehler3284]

Beautiful venue Shang! What a peaceful place to do analysis on old transistor radios. Thanks for another cool video.

[@juniorbcm5375]

Those Duracells are definitely not Y2K compliant!

[@BigDaddy_MRI]

Mr. Carlson’s Lab just recommended your channel!! Awesome, you both offer such great videos. Of course you both do things differently but the end result is your viewers reap the benefit of some really excellent knowledge. Thank you.

[@JordanPier]

Great location. Would love to repair this stuff with a view like this

[@carolriley9392]

I would really like to see you try the one radio that only requires one battery

[@51gary51]

I love your videos, Shango. Always a wonderful and rewarding trip down memory lane!

[@Internutt2023]

47:33 and he closes us out with a fringe "Rick Roll" alignment .....🤣🤣🤣

[@k4vms]

FYI - you received a shout out and recommendation from Mr. Carlson lab channel. Ricky from IBM, Ret.

[@luthmhor]

Man that place looks amazing, and that water is crystal clear. Does your buddy own the land or just the mining lease (or whatever)?

[@volvo09]

Yeah, that's beautiful. Could stare at that blue mineral water all day.

[@matthiase.1747]

The SANYOs are my favourites. Nice having a music station on am that plays good music like SOS Band.

[@MUN.A1988]

Congratualation shango....beautiful banorama ..amazing persoective of water Nd spring ... 🏵 Be happy🏵

[@Watchyn_Yarwood]

Mr. Carlson sent me!

[@stephensmith799]

Little packages of Optimism. There is a tall office block a few miles from me dating from the same period, which has the look of an up ended transistor radio from about 1962. The building always makes me smile too.

[@hellcattanks]

Hi from the UK, I had one of those sanyo pocket sets (1st one shown) back in the early 80's when I was a kid, nice to see one again.

[@freisprechen2142]

Hello,its great to show us the collection.I was the russian radioking in germany.The russian radios was very stable.I had over 100 of these.The smallest one was the "Orljonok" and the greatest "leningrad".The best quality radios came from Belarus named VEF 206 and so on.... All the best for you ..rockn roll

[@JerryEricsson]

When I got to Vietnam in 1970 I arrived with just a duffle bag of uniforms and my wallet, well I had a pocket full of change from the trip. We went through a money change line where all our green money was changed for Army Funny money, greenbacks were not allowed because they were real money and the black market would pay a premium for the good stuff. There was a wall next to the change house where everyone threw the pennies as they were not changed, the smallest bill we had was a 5 cent bill. When I got to my unit, I was sent to a room in the barracks and the guy who was leaving asked if I wanted a radio, he had a Hitachi AM/FM/Cassette recorder for sale, and I purchased it with some of my funny money. Well it was stolen when I went home to be with my wife as she gave birth to our son, when I got back my room had been broken into and everything I owned was gone including my great Hitachi Radio. Here a few months ago, I located one for sale in Florida and purchased it, as is not working. When I got it, it worked just fine, the poor thing had been dropped and all the switches were filthy but after cleaning and a bit of glue, I had her mostly working. The string for the tuner was messed up, but it had just slipped off a guide and when I got it back in place it worked great, a Longer Screw was needed to get past the broken mount, and she stabilized. Now she is working perfectly and brings in local and distant stations wonderfully in my house that acts like a faraday cage to every other radio in my collection. Even the cassette recorder works great now, I even went so far as to buy a 4 pack of D cells to put in her and check for battery function, works GREAT! Found a date mark on her shows she was made in 1969, probably the same time my old one from Nam was made, hell she could be the same one as I had dropped mine off a guard tower, some 65 feet above the sands of Cam Rahn and she survived, this one has the same breaks I remember from back them. Wonder if the guy I got it from stole it from me in 1971???

[@анухидийдумка]

Привет старому вояке из России! Мы уважаем солдат, борющихся за свои идеалы. Уважаем и вас, как наших вероятных противников. Думаю, что драка между нами уже идёт. И серьёзная драка. Пока Украина. Что дальше?

[@tectalabyss]

Hi Shango. Cool spot you picked out.All my very best.

[@keithbrandaw7229]

Can’t wait for the repairs! Bring it ! Thanks For making videos .

[@joseppuig925]

Awesome location to relax repairing radios, of course! Btw, I have my theory regarding the Duracell leaks: I think it's the pressure that the battery holder spring applies to the battery bottom terminal that helps a lot to compromise the sealing, although they have been seek to leak while unused in their package.

[@VectraQS]

Meanwhile, I bought a Super 8mm camera last used in May 1986, and it had four working Duracell batteries in it.

[@rotaxtwin]

I heard that there was a 'Transistor Count' war for a time, they would throw transistors in to the circuit just to up the number. Sometimes using one as a detector rather than a diode.

[@noahamoe3394]

I love watching you repair these radio's I find these very entertaining I don't mind how long the videos are you keep doing what you do 👍

[@badscrew4023]

Wow, beautiful place

[@BrekMartin]

I didn’t come from Carson’s Lab, but did see you mentioned on it!

[@TheTemporalAnomaly]

The videos I enjoy seeing the most are, 1 Tube TV restoration and 2, Tube or transistor radio restoration. But whatever the subject, as soon as I am notified of a new post, I just have to come and watch! Complements from Chris.

[@Idelia412]

I received a 6 transistor radio for Christmas back in 1959 which was an AFCO in a leather case with earphone included. Talked to someone from this company and my radio was one of the first they imported to the states from Japan. AFCO was not the manufacturer, just an import company. My transistor radio was still working this year, and used three batteries that were half the size of a double AA battery. Of course you may be aware of AFCO.

[@teacfan1080]

Now this is what I call a video! Out in nature, a clear river, mountains and analyzing radios! I wonder what that radio station was, recognized several of the songs, sounds like a great station to listen to all day. I like the Wendell West and RCA Victor radios, those would be good candidates for full repair.

[@macelius]

Mr. Carlson sent me, and i'm glad!

[@hestheMaster]

The RCA radio needs help but I'm sure that a separate resurrection video on it is in order! The fish are dancing in the water to the song " Take Your Time (Do It Right)" by the S.O.S. Band coming out of the Zenith! This video also has " Carefree Highway" by Gordon Lightfoot , "Where Did Our Love Go" by Soft Cell, "We Didn't Start The Fire" by Billy Joel and for extra credit, the very hard to hear ( near the end of the video) is "Never Gonna Give You Up "by Rick Astley . Possibly "Hold The Line" by Toto at the very end. Yeah so no copyright infringement here. LOL Great show and tell with some " on the fly" resurrections Shango!!!

[@terrywilson4118]

Fantastic location !! Us caged animals in Australia are not allowed more than 5Klm from our front doors....

[@PC4USE1]

"it's Spring" and is posted in August. My man has a backlog of videos. LOL Half of the time I'm lost but i just dig the old electronics Shango features.

[@SolarLantern424]

14:26 This Sanyo is the one you should definitely restore. Apart from the good vibes which almost everyone has noticed about it, it also has a SW band too! The short wave would be the perfect thing to try out in the wilderness as you might be able to get a few channels at the right time of day if you are lucky and yes it also has that nice jewel. :) I also have a soft spot for the radio that is also a wind up clock.

[@Twentytwo22-entertainment]

His silence of confusion made me laugh at 8:56. Hes just thinking what the hell is this? When it's not even a radio. It's half of an intercom. 😂

[@Radiowild]

Just a absolutely beautiful spot for a repair video! Those Duracell batteries use to be really good but their quality has dwindled to junk as they leak like a British car.

[@DankNoodles420]

Restore the RCA Victor, Resurrect the the Sanyo with the jewel by the name, for memes try to get the big square block radio working aswell. Since the Wendell West won and works it should be used as your tunes radio while you do your work :)

[@jamesdrew8569]

I was expecting you to pull out a Regency TR1! Great video.

[@Antony_Jenner]

That machine on the wall looked like a reflux still / fractional tower thingy, meanwhile Shango gets of on acid. Literally!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@brucebuckeye]

Shango. I really enjoyed this one. I needed a good watch. Thanks! I vote for the RCA

[@litealite]

Memories ! Thanks so much !

[@joemazza1011]

I enjoy watching I was able to fix an old walkie-talkie by watching one of your videos I'm bridge a couple capacitors and found out I had two bad ones so thanks for the tips

[@trudakidancorlf8059]

I really like your videos, especially the ones with old tvs !!

[@alphabeets]

This a commercial for Energizer or ANY other battery brand other than Duracell. Man what shit batteries those Duracells are.

[@Seiskid]

Had the energizer leak in the packet brand new.

[@hotpuppy1]

BEST batteries I ever had were the cheapies that Walmart used to sell years ago. Ran forever and NEVER leaked.

[@ruawhitepaw]

36:49 congrats, you found an electric shaver disguised as a radio.

[@godfreypoon5148]

The high altitude does not appear to affect shango's abilities whatsoever. He must be equipped with a supercharger.

[@defaultuserid1559]

Duracells leak before dollar store batteries will. Think about that for a minute. Great video as usual.

[@Desuk1991]

With those water sounds in the background it's better than airplane noise

[@joeblow8593]

On your next trip to the desert, you could put up a 500 foot Beverage antenna and see what stations you pick up in daylight.

[@craignehring]

The older SANYO But yeah the RCA is cool, love the CT speaker thing Great win for the ZENITH the quality goes in before the name goes on

[@tushar673353]

what a beautiful place to stay...n you got really good treasure of radios out there.

[@TheTreegodfather]

What a gorgeous location

[@brianfletcher9774]

Beautiful river and mountains.

[@travis4798]

I've bought brand new Duracell AA's leaking in the package and had D cell's destroy my tricked out Maglite after a week of being installed in it. They push out garbage now. I'll take the less performing batteries over ones that leak seemingly at random.

[@angryshoebox]

17:56 That's a really old Energizer 9-volt battery. I haven't seen that Energizer logo design since the '80s or '90s.

[@DankNoodles420]

I would take it apart stuff new batteries inside that equals what its raring was and seal it up. Sell it, hey there might be a good business model restoring old battery cans like that.

[@andymouse]

The 1.5V radio would be interesting....cheers.

[@rustyaxelrod]

Gold V on green background I think is a Viceroy. Cool video. I hope ya snagged that bong thing.

[@stephtronix1811]

Where is my airplane ASMR??? Wow, that's a nice spot. One ATC as 8 transistors and the other 14? I would like to see the RCA Victor come back to life (Baby come back - Player)🎶!!! In fact I like to see most of them come back, your repair and revival video's are inspiring, you've inspired me to build my own repair shop, Thanks to you Shango066 and your great content... Thank you!

[@majordisappointment8692]

Yes Dura-leaks are the best batts. If you take a fancy i would like to see the bejeweled Sanyo brought back to life. Thanks Shango

[@randyr.parker2698]

I vote the Sanyo, with the jewel. Like to see it rejuvenated

[@douglashoff95]

North American brand radios were generally junk sold at drugstores. I had one that was an 18 transistor model. Most of the transistors were either connected as diodes or soldered on to the board connected to nothing.

[@mspysu79]

RCA, Sony, and the early Sanyo. Honorable mention the Wendel West.

[@buzz1973]

Great video! look forward to your videos fixing some of these radios.

[@error52]

Awesome video, love the location! I'm fairly certain the orange Federal radio was made by Panasonic. I had several small Panasonic pocket radios, one of which was a twin to the Fed, except it was red.

[@edwardallan197]

Old vintage colored glass with painted label soda pop bottles make great bongs. A high speed rotary saw will penetrate and make a round hole for a rubber grommet, and the shotgun needs no grommet.

[@johnchetcuti6518]

The AITC 14 transistor one in the box had a 9 V battery in it all corroded you missed that one buddy, I am not a transistor man but I love watching your videos I find them very interesting keep up the good work. 🇦🇺

[@budboggy4699]

Been enjoying your work up through your latest and wanted to say thanks from Niceville, Florida. Our political views seem to mesh and your style is fun to watch. Take care and keep it up!

[@Quietruck]

Awesome place to do radio analysis.

[@michaelrobertson575]

Sets like that Federal orange one are quite rare I think. A Superhet Receiver that runs on just one and a half Volts must have been a bit awkward to design. I hope that there will be a Video where you get this going in a place where there is more Medium Wave reception to be had.

[@Giggabitten]

Best shop I've ever seen.

[@seandoole6504]

I've had wall clocks with Duracells in them and the battery leaked & corroded the terminals, yet the clock was still working fine and keeping time. Yet, somehow, the C batteries I have in an old Mint-In-Box Lloyds cassette recorder from 1970 have not only remained perfectly intact, they still remain usable and register 1.5v on my meter, despite being 50 years old.

[@countzero1136]

They sure don't make 'em like they used to!

[@MarksKicksOnRoute66]

Do you still have your Geiger counter? Wonder if that's Radium in that clock face?

[@frank3770]

Nah those are transistor radio, well beyond undark Age.

[@cipherthedemonlord8057]

Radium turns orange when old so no.

[@MarksKicksOnRoute66]

@@cipherthedemonlord8057 no evidence found in my research to support this statement.

[@pieciagoras]

I like your movies very much. I always look forward to the next one. Greetings from Poland.